A workmate's birthday bash in Guangzhou, China

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It's Friday again! And here in Hive, it could only mean one thing, #MarketFriday! Woohooo! 🎉🎉🎉

All this time, I really thought that I'm only allowed to post about physical markets/stores such as wet markets, flea markets, clothing shops, etc. But a few weeks back, dswigle@dswigle corrected my idea about the Market Friday community. She explained that as long as there's an exchange of money for something (goods or services), I'm on the right track. That's when I realized that this community is so much more than what I initially thought.

Continuing my work adventure in Guangzhou during our visit for Canton Fair. The trip fell on April a few years back. One workmate never mentioned that he'll be celebrating his birthday while we're on the work trip. We just found out about it a day or so before his birthday. I don't know how he felt about it, I mean I personally wouldn't want to celebrate my birthday away from home and away from my family. That's not gonna work for me.

In my previous post, I mentioned that we had partners in China who were with us the entire time we were in Guangzhou. We're so lucky to have them as they drove us around, accompanied us the entire time we were in Canton Fair, offered free meals, etc. Upon hearing that it was Jemon's birthday, they immediately offered to celebrate it right after our visit to Canton Fair. We dropped by a mall to check the Mi store (back then, there were no Mi stores in the Philippines) and proceeded to Catwalk Disco and Club in Tianhe District. Okay, just to be very clear about it: we didn't party like teenagers out in their cages for the first time. 😂 It wasn't my first time going inside a club (I've been to exactly 3 clubs here in Cebu). Catwalk didn't look like a cheap club at all. Its interior was sophisticated and luxurious. We got a private room enough to house 10 people and there's a built-in karaoke in the room complete with surround sound system, a huge L-shaped couch and a glass table for food and beverage. I have no idea what transpired between our partners and Catwalk, what I do know is that we had a sumptuous dinner that night; food overflowed. And what's a birthday celebration without a birthday cake, right? It was too sweet for our partners to buy a beautifully decorated cake and it came as a surprise. I could see the happiness on Jemon's face that night. He might be away from his family on his special day but with the little celebration we had, I'm sure he won't forget this birthday.

Have you heard Filipinos sing? Well, we just love singing; it's like our second nature. 😁 Not that I'm a great singer but I can sing at least on key. And this fact made our China partners very happy as the night faded we just sang our hearts out. I didn't know they love singing too until they chose a few songs and sang too. We had a really great time in Catwalk. And here's the most fascinating thing about this night, everything came for free!WEll I'm sure there's an exchange of money for the food and service we enjoyed that night but our China partners paid for everything (as far as I know). I didn't give any amount for the food or the rent for the space we occupied. They're so kind to us! We left before midnight because the following day, we're back in Canton Fair! We had work to do, of course. 😁


A workmate's birthday bash in Guangzhou, China | Ecency